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A Cokato Man Is In Jail After Atempting To Flee Officers In Multiple Cities

10/08/2012 -
8:45 AM

A Cokato man is in jail after attempting to flee police officers in multiple cities.

On Friday morning a Stearns County Deputy was on a routine patrol when the Deputy ran a license plate check on a 2002 Jaguar. The Deputy was familiar with the registered owner from previous contacts as a Drug Enforcement officer and the driver had a revoked license.

The Deputy attempted to stop the vehicle when the driver accelerated which caused the Deputy to engage in a pursuit. The driver attempted to evade law enforcement by entering a farm site which caused extensive damage to the property.

The pursuit continued as the vehicle traveled through St. Augusta and then through St. Cloud where officers assisted with traffic control and the pursued vehicle was able to avoid law enforcement efforts which resulted in damage to four county squad cars.

The pursuit continued into Benton County where at the intersection of Highway Fifteen and Benton Drive, officers deployed a trained vehicle maneuver spinning the pursued vehicle out of control and ending the pursuit. The vehicle was stopped, but the driver attempted to evade again by ramming a Stearns County squad car. Officers from surrounding agencies assisted by physically removing the driver from his car and placing him into custody.

The driver was identified as 32-year-old James Kelly Benson. The incident is currently under investigation and Benson was taken into custody where he is being held on numerous outstanding warrants including felony warrants issued by the Department of Corrections as well as charges from this incident.

The Minnesota State Patrol, the St. Cloud Police Department, the Sartell Police Department, the Sauk Rapids Police Department and the Sauk Rapids Fire Department assisted in this pursuit.